Fifth-year guard Jacy Sheldon (4) pumps her fist in celebration during No. 2 Ohio State’s 80-47 win over Nebraska at the Schottenstein Center Feb. 14. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
Despite an eight-day gap between games, No. 2 Ohio State showed no signs of rust versus Penn State.
The second-ranked Buckeyes (23-3, 14-1 Big Ten) defeated Penn State (16-11, 7-9 Big Ten) 82-69 Thursday at Rec Hall thanks to a 26-10 first quarter in which the Buckeyes shot 64.7% from the floor, while the Nittany Lions shot only 33.3%.
The win gave Ohio State its 13th win in a row, while Penn State dropped its sixth consecutive.
The Buckeyes started the game red hot, as they built up a 21-4 lead after a pull-up jumper by graduate guard Jacy Sheldon with 3:24 to go in the first. Sheldon finished with a team-high 20 points, her 11th time scoring at least 20 points this season.
Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said the fast start was important in Ohio State setting the tone early.
“I thought we had a great start, I thought that was the key,” McGuff said. “I felt like if we gave them confidence early, it could be a long night for us, but we really imposed our will on the game right from the tip.”
After Penn State answered with back-to-back buckets, the Buckeyes responded with a three from graduate forward Rebeka Mikulasikova. Mikulasikova added 8 points with two threes for Ohio State.
Ohio State led by as many as 18 in the first quarter and built up a 26-10 lead by the end of it after Nittany Lions graduate guard Ashley Owusu made a fast-break layup with 21 seconds left in the quarter. Owusu led Penn State with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor.
Penn State chipped away in the second as another Owusu layup gave Penn State a 7-0 run and cut the Buckeyes’ lead to as little as 10 more than halfway into the second.
Sophomore forward Cotie McMahon halted the Nittany Lion run with her signature sidestep layup that put Ohio State up 34-22. McMahon finished with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
After Penn State quickly answered, Sheldon silenced the crowd with a wide-open triple to put the Buckeyes up 37-24 at halftime.
McGuff said the Buckeyes’ 3-point shooting has come very far since the first meeting against the Nittany Lions last December.
“We shot the ball really well tonight, I think we’ve been coming around on that so I was really happy,” McGuff said. “I think tonight we made good decisions in our shot selection so we got a lot of open threes.”
After the Nittany Lions scored first in the third, Ohio State responded with a vengeance as it went on an 11-0 run, pushing its lead to 48-26 less than two minutes into the second half.
Nittany Lion redshirt-junior guard Alli Campbell made a fast-break layup to stop the Buckeyes’ run, but it was not enough to slow down Ohio State.
After some back-and-forth scoring, graduate guard Celeste Taylor nailed a triple to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 55-34 with five and a half minutes remaining in the quarter. Taylor scored 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep along with a team-high seven assists and seven steals.
Taylor said maintaining confidence was key in her strong shooting from distance.
“I think for me it was just staying locked in, staying locked and loaded, knowing that I work on my shot, so just being confident and shooting my shots,” Taylor said.
Despite Penn State cutting the lead down to 19 in the fourth, Ohio State went on an 11-0 run to go up 30, its largest lead of the game.
But Penn State continued to battle, going on an 11-0 run of its own to cut its deficit back down to 19, but it was too little, too late.
Sheldon said she felt everything was clicking for the Buckeyes, despite the long break since their last game.
“It’s easy when we’re moving the ball like that and finding the open person hitting shots so it’s fun,” Sheldon said. “Our chemistry is only getting stronger and we’re starting to find each other more, so it’s exciting and then it’s fun to do it; we were in a good atmosphere against a really good team too.”
Ohio State returns home to face Maryland at Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center Sunday at 2 p.m. The Buckeyes previously defeated the Terrapins 84-76 in College Park, Maryland, on Jan. 17.
The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
